Dr. Barbara Solomon (photo via news.usc.edu) article via jbhe.com Walden University, headquartered in Minneapolis, enrolls more than 52,000 students in over 80 online degree programs. The university has renamed its School of Social Work and Human Services in honor of Barbara Solomon. The university has also named a scholarship program for Dr. Solomon. These scholarships are earmarked for students who have shown a commitment to helping underserved populations.
Dr. Solomon played a major role in the development of the social work program at Walden University. Earlier in her career, she was professor, vice provost, and dean of the Graduate School at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. She served on the faculty at the University of Southern California from 1966 to 2004. Dr. Solomon was the first African American to serve as dean at USC. Professor Solomon is the author ofBlack Empowerment: Social Work in Oppressed Communities (Columbia University Press, 1977).
Professor Solomon is a magna cum laude graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C. She holds a master of social work degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a Ph.D. in social work from the University of Southern California. To read more, go to: https://www.jbhe.com/2016/02/walden-university-names-its-school-of-social-work-in-honor-of-barbara-solomon/
article by Victor Ochieng via financialjuneteenth.com T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia, hosted thousands of students on Saturday, February 20, 2016, where students were awarded scholarships to the tune of $2.1 million, the biggest ever by Alfred Street Baptist Church. The scholarships are channeled to the students through Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
The beneficiaries of the event, 14th Annual HBCU College Festival, are high school students joining college.
The doors opened at 10 a.m., although students and their family members started showing up as early as 7 a.m. A big number of those who graced the event came from Washington D.C., while others came from as far as Alabama, New York, Illinois, Florida, among several other places.
A lot of things went down at the festival, with $41,000 given in waiver for applications and up to 1,000 students getting admitted to different colleges on-site. More than 160 students received scholarships based on merit.
The scholarships saw some students get full rides to different HBCUs. This is just one of the ways through which Alfred Street Baptist Church employs to positively impact the lives of young people, and it’s such a timely event as it comes during the Black History Month.
“Black youth are often stereotyped as uneducated, with no ambition or drive, but events like these dispute the perpetual stereotype of black youth time and time again, as nearly 5,000 youth registered online to attend our college festival,” said Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley, pastor of the historic Alfred Street Baptist Church. “Many black youth and their families woke up this past Saturday morning dreaming of a college education and wondering how it would be possible. By noon, of that day, many saw the dreams come to fruition and had answers. God is good and He showed up, and showed out on Saturday.”
The event registered the largest turnout in its history, bringing together more than 3,000 students and members of their family as well as 320 volunteers. To read more, go to: http://financialjuneteenth.com/virginia-church-awards-2-1-million-worth-scholarships-hbcu-bound-students/
It’s four months out from this year’s ESSENCE Festival in New Orleans, and ESSENCE has just revealed its first look at the 2016 lineup.
For the 22nd year, ESSENCE Fest is bringing sure-to-be-lit nighttime concerts featuring more than 30 of today’s hottest hip-hop and R&B stars. This year’s lineup is a mix of old and new: soul and R&B, hip hop and pop—from Kendrick Lamar to Mariah Carey to Maxwell to Lion Babe.
“The ESSENCE Festival is back in New Orleans with an extraordinary roster of the biggest names and best performers in entertainment—from global music icons to the industry’s rising stars,” said ESSENCE President Michelle Ebanks. “We are welcoming Mariah Carey, Kendrick Lamar and Maxwell to headline the Superdome main stage. In addition, we will be embracing newcomers like Leon Bridges, Jeremih, Lion Babe, Dej Loaf and The Internet, as well as fan favorite Charlie Wilson for the ultimate cultural experience in New Orleans this July 4th weekend.” Click through to see a full list of performers, and be sure to check back for updates. Get your tickets here. To read original article, go to: http://www.essence.com/2016/03/01/2016-essence-festival-lineup-revealed-kendrick-mariah-maxwell-oh-my
Ciara and Russell Wilson (JAMES DEVANEY VIA GETTY IMAGES) article by Juliet Spies-Gans via huffingtonpost.com
“Hey, be good. Be good. You know what, be good. Be good!”
For Russell Wilson, one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL, that phrase is so crucial that he repeated it three times while talking to The Huffington Post. Each time with a different emphasis, each time with increasing resound.
Be good.
The words are easy to say, but harder to heed. So the 27-year-old NFL star, guided by his strong faith and devotion to inner-city communities, decided it was time to prove that he, too, was living by the motto.
That’s where the Good Man Brand came in. With the coolly confident goal of inspiring an entire generation, Russell Wilson is teaming up his Good Man Brand with his Why Not You Foundation to launch something they hope will better lives. Using a business model similar to that of TOMS — a company known for its policy of “buy-one, give-one” — Good Man Brand opens its doors with the promise that for every item sold, it will share its profits with a charity of choice.
The “Good Man Brand” is promising that $3 from every purchase will go to charity — and he’s committing now to assisting inner-city education, a cause personally selected by Wilson and his team for the tangible, immediate impact it can have on inner-city children all over the nation. (Image via RUSSELL WILSON)
As Wilson sees it, this is the blueprint for how he and the foundation can begin to “make a major difference in the world.” And as Wilson sees it, the beauty of the brand is that it enables its customers, along with the company, to make a difference.
That is, it gives the gift of giving right back to those getting the goods, as they suddenly have the power to make waves in the community, to “be good” to the kids around them, simply by ringing up a sweater at the register. “We’re trying to change the way and the attitude of a culture,” Wilson told HuffPost on Sunday. “Ultimately, this brand is going to help change people’s lives.”
“We’re trying to inspire people, give back and make a culture change,” he added.
Through one brand giving back, every customer gives back — it’s the business model incarnation of a slogan that’s been in our collective subconscious for decades: all for one and one for all. (Image via RUSSELL WILSON)
For the team behind the brand, how you become that titular “good man” comes back to that omnipresent, crucial No. 3 — the same number that’s plastered on the back of Wilson’s Seattle Seahawks jersey and the number of dollars donated from every item sold: “The good man leads, the good man inspires, and the good man lives a good life.”
Lead. Inspire. Live. Supporting good by “sporting good.” The mottos and mantras of the Good Man Brand are seemingly endless, but even with the surfeit of slogans, they all share one quality in common: Each encourages customers to go from passive to active, to not just sport the clothes, but support the cause — to ask themselves, “What good will you do today?” To read more, go to: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/russell-wilson-good-man-brand-launch_us_56d46b17e4b0871f60ec0c4d
Vanessa Gathers, 58, with Ken Thompson, the Brooklyn district attorney, after her manslaughter conviction was vacated on Tuesday. (Photo: ANDREW KELLY FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
In a gray suit, her short hair neatly curled, Vanessa Gathers sat in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn last Tuesday, beaming as the judge spoke words she had waited nearly two decades to hear: The manslaughter conviction for which she had spent 10 years in prison was vacated, the judge said, after an investigation revealed that her confession to the crime was false.
In an instant, Ms. Gathers was no longer a convicted criminal. The judge, Justice Matthew J. D’Emic, smiled back. “Good luck!” he said.
Ms. Gathers, 58, is the first woman to have been exonerated by the Conviction Review Unit, a special unit created by the Brooklyn district attorney to look into scores of cases linked to Louis Scarcella, a retired detective whose tactics led to the wrongful convictions of more than a dozen people, according to the district attorney’s office. The unit is examining 100 cases, many of them involving Mr. Scarcella.
Mark Hale, an assistant district attorney, told the judge that an investigation into Ms. Gathers’s case had determined that she had been wrongfully convicted and that her confession had been coaxed, fed to her by Mr. Scarcella.
“We have grave doubts and, in fact, do not believe that it was true,” Mr. Hale said.
After the hearing, the Brooklyn district attorney, Ken Thompson, spoke outside the courtroom. “These wrongful convictions represent a systemic failure, a failure by prosecutors, defense attorneys, by judges, by the system,” he said. “These wrongful convictions destroy lives, and no matter what happens, Ms. Gathers will not get back those 10 years.”
Ms. Gathers was convicted of manslaughter in the death of Michael Shaw, 71, who was attacked and robbed inside his apartment in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, in 1991. He died of complications from the assault six months later, in 1992. Ms. Gathers was convicted in 1998, and has been free since she was paroled on March 2, 2007, after serving 10 years in prison.
Ms. Gathers was approached by Mr. Scarcella on the street a month after Mr. Shaw’s death “because she fit the description of one of the assailants,” according to a statement released by the district attorney’s office. She denied being connected to the attack, and pointed to a woman who she believed had done it, but years later, as the investigation continued, she was again interrogated by Mr. Scarcella. In 1997, she confessed — the only evidence presented at trial.
But an examination by Mr. Thompson’s office determined that Ms. Gathers had “made a false confession based, in part, on the defendant’s inability to articulate her role in the assault; perceived inaccuracies in the statement itself; and the lack of details in the statement,” the district attorney’s statement said. Investigators determined that the “complete lack of a coherent narrative in the defendant’s confession, combined with apparent factual errors, amount to reasonable doubt in the validity of the confession itself.”
Among those inconsistencies, Mr. Hale said in court on Tuesday, were statements that the victim had been in a wheelchair. In fact, he had never used one.
While imprisoned, Ms. Gathers had an impeccable record and consistently maintained her innocence, even at three parole hearings, where it may have been more expedient to admit to the crime in hopes of being released, said Lisa Cahill, a lawyer with Hughes Hubbard & Reed, which represented Ms. Gathers, along with the Legal Aid Society. “And it wasn’t because of calculations or because of some Machiavellian foresight,” Ms. Cahill said. “It is because she is fundamentally a decent woman.”
“Alias” actress Merrin Dungey has joined the cast of ABC drama pilot “Conviction.” The pilot centers around a young attorney (Hayley Atwell), the brilliant but ne’er-do-well daughter of a former U.S. president, who is blackmailed into taking a job as the head of Los Angeles’ newly created Conviction Integrity Unit.
She, along with her team of lawyers, investigators and forensic experts, work together to examine cases where there’s credible suspicion that the wrong person may have been convicted of a crime.
Dungey will play Maxine, the lead investigator for the Conviction Integrity Unit. Maxine is a former NYPD detective from a cop family who is described as being tough and no-nonsense. She’ll find her previously unfailing loyalty to the badge tested as she delves into her former colleagues’ cases.
Dungey will next be seen in HBO’s limited series “Big Little Lies,” starring Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon, and has recently appeared on ABC drama “Once Upon a Time” and Fox comedy “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” She’s the sister of newly promoted ABC entertainment president Channing Dungey, who replaced outgoing ABC topper Paul Lee earlier this month.
UA researcher Rick Kittles is a national leader on health disparities and the role of genes and environment in disease. (Photo: Bob Demers/UANews) article by Nick Prevenas via uanews.arizona.edu
Ever since he can remember, Rick Kittles always wanted to know where he came from.
Born in Sylvania, Georgia, and raised near Long Island, New York, a great deal of his academic interest was sparked by the desire to trace his ancestral lineage as far back as it could go. This proved to be exceedingly difficult, for a number of reasons.
“There simply wasn’t a strong database in place or any kind of access to information on African genetics,” Kittles said. “Records were either inaccurate or nonexistent, so there were a number of hurdles in place for African-Americans to try to figure out their ancestry.”
An aptitude for biology, coupled with a deep exploration of Alex Haley’s novel, “Roots,” led Kittles on a path that eventually would help thousands of people like him clear these hurdles. He is the director of the Division of Population Genetics at the University of Arizona, which he joined in July 2014.
Developing and implementing a comprehensive African genealogy database seemed daunting at first, but during his graduate studies at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and, later, though his work at Howard University’s College of Medicine in the late 1990s, Kittles met the historians, archaeologists, anthropologists and fellow geneticists who could help turn this dream into a reality.
“I was looking at my own DNA profile, analyzing my Y-chromosome lineage, and I noticed my Nigerian lineage didn’t track with the other Y-chromosome samples from West Africa,” Kittles said.
California Attorney General and U.S. Senate hopeful Kamala Harris (photo via latimes.com) article by Phil Willon via latimes.com Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris won the coveted California Democratic Party endorsement for U.S. Senate on Saturday, solidifying her status as the front-runner and delivering a setback to her top rival, Rep. Loretta Sanchez.
Harris captured 78.1% of the votes to earn the state Democrats’ official seal of approval. It’s a prize that provides her with a clear edge in the June 7 primary and, most likely, financial support from the party.
The endorsement came after the two Democratic Senate candidates, running to succeed retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer, made their final pitches to local activists and other elected officials.
Harris asked Democrats to help her deliver a “more perfect union” and Sanchez asked them to trust her experience and record over other candidates’ “talk.”
But Harris prevailed in a landslide. Of the 2,139 ballots cast, 19.3% were for Sanchez and 2.6% voted for no endorsement at all. Their back-to-back speeches, the warm-up acts before Vice President Joe Biden took the stage, capped a furious two days of campaigning by both women.
Sanchez spoke of her hardscrabble upbringing, cleaning homes to help one of her brothers pay for college, and how her Mexican immigrant parents’ hard work and perseverance allowed them to achieve the American dream. The congresswoman emphasized her record and experience in Washington and received the warmest response when extolling her votes against the Iraq war, the bank bailout and the Patriot Act.
“While other candidates talk about boldly changing in Washington, I’ve done it for 20 years,” Sanchez said, taking a subtle dig at Harris. “Experience matters, and I will hit the ground running in the Senate.”
Harris walked onto the stage to rousing applause and described the life-shaping experience of growing up in the Bay Area as the daughter of two civil rights activists. Harris’ speech hewed to the high ideals of the Democratic Party and the “poison” politics consuming the Republican presidential race. She vowed to protect and restore the fundamental rights of all Americans.
“For far too many, liberty and justice for all is a promise we have failed to keep,” Harris said.
Winning the party endorsement required at least 60% of the votes from credentialed party delegates or their proxies, a mark that historically has been difficult to reach because delegates also have the option of checking a box for “no endorsement.”
Idris Elba at Spirit Awards, Los Angeles, Feb 2016 (Photo by Andrew Walker/Variety/REX/Shutterstock) article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)
According to Variety.com, last night at the 2016 Spirit Awards, which celebrate and honor independent films, “Beasts of No Nation” actors Idris Elba and Abraham Attah both won in their respective supporting and leading actor categories. Mya Taylor at 2016 Spirit Awards (photo via vulture.com)
For the Ghanian Attah, playing the child soldier trained by Elba was his first acting role. Elba, though not nominated for an Academy Award this year, won the Screen Actors Guild award for his part in “Beasts of No Nation” as well.
Additionally, “Tangerine”‘s Mya Taylor took home the supporting actress award for her performance as a transgender sex worker. “I came from almost nothing,” a beaming Taylor said from the stage following a standing ovation. “My life did a total 360.” “Tangerine” was shot entirely on an iPhone by director Sean Baker.
A full list of winners (in bold) and nominees follows below: Best Feature
Anomalisa
Beasts of No Nation
Carol Spotlight — WINNER
Tangerine
American athletes Tommie Smith (middle) and John Carlos (right) at the Award Ceremony for the 200m race at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, October 16, 1968. (Photo: DPA/LANDOV)
The image above is a powerful one. This black power salute is embedded in our history. In 1968 Olympics athletes Tommie Smith (gold) and John Carlos (bronze) made history during the Olympic games in Mexico City. With the world watching the sprinters stood on the medal podium and raised their black-gloved fists in the air in silent protest for human rights and for black Americans to stand in solidarity.
It’s that powerful image that was the inspiration for Puma’s capsule collection honoring Tommie Smith and Black History Month. What I didn’t realize is that gold medalist Tommie Smith removed his suede Pumas right before he stepped onto the podium shoeless in black socks, to represent poverty and slavery. After that subtle statement, he then raised his fist. With that unmistakable gesture, Tommie Smith altered the course of history and dedicated his life to change. Emblazoned with Tommie Smith’s silhouette, with fist raised, the Black History Month Pack honors a legacy on the track and off. I must applaud Puma for honoring this hero. Yara Shalhidi and Tommie Smith at the Puma and Sheikh Shoes Launch Celebration at Mastro’s Beverly Hills (Photo credit: Charles Jim-George)
article by Taylor Lewis via essence.com
